Hinge adjusting tool



July 25. 967 w. E. DUNSTER. JR 3,

HINGE ADJUSTING'TOOL Filed Feb. 19, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l July 25, 1967w. E. DUNSTER, JR 3,332,274

HINGE ADJUSTING TOOL Filed Feb. 19, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 qmmamcSDumstC-m' A7 $45M jrr'r emayf United States Patent 3,332,274 HINGEADJUSTING TOOL William E. Dunster, Jr., Rockford, Ill., assignor toAmerock Corporation, Rockford, 11]., a corporation of Connecticut FiledFeb. 19, 1965, Ser. No. 433,886 Claims. (Cl. 72458) This inventionrelates to a tool for adjusting a door hinge, and more particularly, toa tool for bending the hinge flanges which extend between the hingecurls and leaf to aline the door with the supporting frame.

One object of this invention is to provide a tool which accuratelyalines the door and the frame by bending the hinge flanges in a precisemanner and which applies the force for bending the flanges only to thehinge flanges and flange supported curls,

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following detailed description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary cross-sectionalview of a door pivotally supported on a frame by a concealed leaf hinge,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a concealed leaf hinge,

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of a door supported on a concealedleaf hinge showing the correction to the right needed to aline the door,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the hinge adjusting tool,

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view along the line 55 of FIG. 1with the addition of a fragmentary portion of the tool being attached tothe hinge,

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the hinge, door andframe with the tool attached to reposition the door to the right,

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of a door supported on a concealedleaf hinge showing the correction to the left needed to aline the door,

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the hinge with the toolattached to reposition the door to the left.

To illustrate the invention, a concealed leaf hinge 10 is shown in FIG.1 pivotally supporting a door 11 on a frame 12 for closing a frameopening 13. The unmounted hinge is illustrated in FIG. 2 and includesinterfitting curls 14 and 15 pivotally attached by a pivot pin 16 (seeFIG. 1) extending through alined openings 18 in the curls and centeredon the hinge pivot axis. The hinge is made of a material like ductilesheet metal and the door supporting curl 15 is formed by bending thefree end of a flange 19 back on itself. This flange is formed integrallywith a leaf 20 fastened to the door by flat head screws 22 extendingthrough countersunk holes 21 in the leaf and driven into the door. Theframe supported curls 14 are formed by bending the free ends of a pairof flanges 24 back on themselves. These flanges are formed integrallywith and supported by frame leaves 25 which include countersunk holes 26through which flat head screws 28 are driven to attach the hinge to theframe 12.

After the door is mounted on the frame by the hinge just describedusually two to a door, the door frequently does not aline exactly withthe frame, the frame opening, or with another adjacent door. The problemstems from the difliculty of holding and alining the door whilepositioning the hinges, where even a slight variance in the 3,332,274Patented July 25, 1967 positioning of the hinge makes a large differencein the position of the extended end of the door. If the door overlapsthe opening and if the misalignment is slight and in a directionrequiring the door to be pivoted or moved in a plane parallel to thefront of the frame, the most usual method of alining the door is to bendone or both hinges where the hinges are made of a bendable sheetmaterial. For instance, as illustrated in FIG. 3, if one corner of thedoor is to far to the left, it is usually possible to bend the hinge andmove the door to the position indicated by the dotted outline 11A. Theusual manner of bending the hinge is to apply pressure to the extendedend of the door in the direction the door is to be shifted. Where hingesare made of bendable sheet material however, the material is usually ofthe same thickness and strength throughout and may bend in any of anumber of places. Also, many of the hinges used are similar to the onejust described where the leaves are concealed when the supported door isin the closed position, making it difiicult to insert a tool for pryingon the hinge to adjust it.

In accordance with the present invention, a tool is provided for bendinga mounted hinge in a precise manner requiring contact with only thehinge flanges and hinge curls, with no contact necessary with the hingeleaves, door or frame. With this tool, a lateral force is applied on theframe supported flange and curls to bend the flange and aline the dooron the frame. The tool includes an anchor for clamping onto the framesupported flange and interfitting prying means for exerting a forcebetween a stop on the anchor and the curls to bend the flange about thestationary frame leaf in either direction.

In FIG. 4 is illustrated a tool 30 wherein the anchor and theinterfitting prying means takes the form of a base member 31 and a prymember 32, respectively. The base member 31 includes a flat plateportion 31a narrowed down at one end to form a handle 34. The end of theplate opposite to the handle is cut out leaving legs 35 and 36 extendingparallel from opposite sides of a plate edge 32a supporting fingers 38and 39, respectively, which extend toward each other at right angles tothe legs and parallel to the plate edge 32a.

The legs 35, 36 and fingers 38, 39 cooperate to form means for attachingthe base member to the flange of the hinge on which the tool is to beused. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the distance between an end 38a of thefinger 38 and the edge 36a of the leg 36 is sufiiciently greater thanthe span across the two flanges 24 to permit the finger 38 to clear theadjacent flange when the other flange is inserted inside the finger 39.The finger 38 is shorter than finger 39 to facilitate insertion of theflanges inside the fingers in this manner. With the flanges inside thefingers, the base member is moved laterally to overlap the finger 38 andthe adjacent flange and attach the base member to the hinge. Of course,each tool can only be used on hinges having the span across the flangeswithin predetermined limits, since the fingers must both fit around andoverlap the open edges to attach the base member.

The base member includes a stop against which the pry means ispositioned when the tool is used to bend a hinge. In this embodiment,the stop comprises the forward edge 32a on the plate 32, or a stop plate40 attached by lugs 41 on the base member extending through L-shapedslots 42 in the stop plate (see FIGS. 4 and 5). The L-shaped slotspermit the stop plate to be moved with respect to the base member toeither of two positions depending upon whether more or less space isneeded between the base member and the curl to interfit the pryingmeans. The stop plate may also be repositioned to gain optimum leveragebetween it and the prying means for moving the curl.

The pry member 32 is composed of a single flat plate formed to include arectangular head portion 45 with an elongated handle 46 extending fromone edge. The plate is bent at approximately 30 degrees where the headand handle join, while the head is bent at right angles in the oppositedirection and parallel to this first bend, midway between the first bendand an opposite edge or tip 48 of the plate. The outer face 49 on thehead, facing in the opposite direction to that of the handle, is beveledadjacent the tip 48 to make it easier to insert the tip between the stopmeans and the curl. This outer face is thus positioned between the tipand handle to contact the clurl when the pry member is pivoted about thetip positioned against the stop means.

To illustrate the use of the tool, assume the door needs adjusted to theright as shown in FIG. 3. The base member 31 is attached to the flanges24 as shown in FIG. 5, with the handle extending to the left of thehinge and the fingers 38 and 39 inserted behind the flanges. The stopplate 40 is moved on the lugs 41 until it is in the position closest tothe face 32a by shifting the plate towards the face and then laterallyin the slots 42. The stop plate is so positioned because the lateraldistance between the curls and plate face 32a is greater since the curlsextend laterally from the frame flanges in a direction away from theface 32a. A lip 44 on the plate edge 32A helps prevent the tip 48 fromextending on through the base member and contacting, and possiblymarring, the frame.

To exert a force for bending the flanges 24, the pry member is interfiton the base member with the tip 48 between the stop plate 40 and theflanges 24. The handle 46 is then pivoted away from the frame in thedirection of the arrow 50, causing the face 49 to contact the curlandthe tip 48 on the head to contact the stop plate. Since the points ofcontact are offset laterally along the head, the head acts as a shortlever arm to amplify and impress between the curl and stop plate theforce exerted on the handle. This lateral force is transmitted throughthe curls and through the stop plate and base member to spaced points onthe flanges 24 to deflect and bend the flanges in a counterclockwisedirection about the frame leaf. Since the door is preferably closed, thealignment of the door and frame may be observed to determined the amountof bending necessary.

The door may also be adjusted to the left as shown in FIG. 7 by asimilar use of the same tool. To accomplish this the door is opened andthe base member anchored on the flanges 24 with the handle 34 extendingto the right in the drawings, as shown in FIG. 8. The stop plate ismoved back away from the plate face 32a since the lateral spacingbetween the face and curl is less. Thereafter the pry member is insertedbetween the curls and the plate face and pivoted in the direction ofarrow 54 to bend the flanges 24, and reposition the door to the left.

In this manner, the tool impresses the force for bending the framesupported flanges only on the flanges and curls without contacting thehinge leaves, frame or door. The spacing between the curl and door isnot affected and there is no force impressed tending to loosen the hingefrom the door and frame.

I claim as my invention:

1. A tool for adjusting a hinge supporting a door on a frame andincluding a flange adapted to be fastened to the frame and support acurl attached to the door and spaced from the frame by the flange, saidtool comprising, a base member including a rectangular flat plate, apair of legs extending parallel from one edge of said flat plate andspaced apart to span the flange, a finger supported from each legextending towards each other and adapted to hook behind the flange andreleasably at tach the base member thereto, a stop plate, means supporting said stop plate on said flat plate for movement normal to saidone edge of said base member, an elongated pry member including a handleand an attached head, said head including an edge positioned opposite tosaid handle adapted to interfit against said one edge of said flat plateor against said stop plate, said head including a face positioned tocontact said curl when said tip is interfit with said one edge or saidstop plate and said fingers are positioned to attach said base member tosaid flange, whereby when in this position said pry member can bepivoted about said beveled edge to bring said face against said curl tomove said curl and bend the flange for repositioning the door on theframe.

2. A tool for adjusting a hinge supporting a door on a frame andincluding a flange adapted to be fastened to the frame and support acurl attached to the door and spaced from the frame by the flange, saidtool comprising, a base member including a flat plate, parallel legsextending from one edge of said flat plate and spaced apart to span theflange, fingers supported from each leg extending towards each other andadapted to hook behing the flange to releasably attach said base memberthereto, a plurality of stops supported on said flat plate, an elongatedpry member including a handle and an attached head, said head includinga tip adapted to interfit with one of said stops, a face on said headbetween said tip and said handle and positioned at an angle to saidhandle to contact the curl when the tip is interfit with said stop andthe base member is attached to said flange, whereby said base member maybe attached to said flange and said pry member interfit with one of saidstops and pivoted against the curl to move the curl and bend the flangeto reposition the door on the frame.

3. A tool for adjusting a hinge supporting a door on a frame andincluding a flange adapted to be fastened to the frame and support acurl attached to the door and spaced from the frame by the flange, saidtool comprising, a base member including a flat plate portion, legsextending from one edge of said flat plate portion and spaced apart tospan the flange, fingers supported from each leg extending towards eachother and adapted to hook behind said flange to releasably attach saidbase member thereto, a stop on said plate portion, an elongated prymember including a handle and a head attached to said handle, a tip onsaid head facing away from said handle and adapted to interfit with saidstop, and a face on said head positioned to contact the curl when thebase member is attached to the flange and the pry member is pivotedabout said tip fitting against said stop whereby said base member may beattached to the flange and said pry member interfit against said stopand pivoted against the curl to cause said face to move the curl andbend the flange to reposition the door on the frame.

4. A tool for adjusting a hinge supporting a door on a frame andincluding a flange adapted to be fastened to the frame and support acurl attached to the door and spaced from the frame by the flange, saidtool comprising, a base member including parallel extending legs spacedapart to span said flange, fingers on said legs adapted to hook behindsaid flanges, a stop on said base member laterally spaced from saidfingers, an elongated pry member including a tip adapted to interfitwith said stop, a handle on said pry member, a face on said pry memberpositioned between said handle and tip to contact said curl when thetips is interfit with said stop, whereby said base member can bepositioned with said fingers hooked behind the flange and said prymembers interfit with said stop and pivoted by movement of said handleto contact the curl with said face to move the curl and bend the flangefor repositioning the door on the frame.

5. A tool for adjusting a hinge supporting a door on a frame andincluding a flange adapted to be fastened to the frame and support acurl attached to the door and spaced from the frame by the flange, saidtool comprising, a base member including anchor means for releasablyattaching onto said flange adjacent said frame and including a flatportion adapted to lie along said frame, a stop positioned on said flatportion and laterally spaced from said anchor means, an elongated prymember including a tip adapted to interfit against said stop, a handleattached to said pry member, and a face on said pry member adapted tocontact said curl when said pry member is pivoted about said tippositioned against said stop, whereby by fastening said base member onthe hinge flange and pivoting said pry member about said stop a forcemay be exerted to move the curl and bend the supporting flange foradjusting the position of the door .on the frame.

References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS 600,171 4/1948 Great Britain.

CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

G. P. CROSBY, Assistant Examiner.

5. A TOOL FOR ADJUSTING A HINGE SUPPORTING A DOOR ON A FRAME ANDINCLUDING A FLANGE ADAPTED TO BE FASTENED TO THE FRAME AND SUPPORT ACURL ATTACHED TO THE DOOR AND SPACED FROM THE FRAME BY THE FLANGE, SAIDTOOL COMPRISING, A BASE MEMBER INCLUDING ANCHOR MEANS FOR RELEASABLYATTACHING ONTO SAID FLANGE ADJACENT SAID FRAME AND INCLUDING A FLATPORTION ADAPTED TO LIE ALONG SAID FRAME, A STOP POSITIONED ON SAID FLATPORTION AND LATERALLY SPACED FROM SAID ANCHOR MEANS, AN ELONGATED PRYMEMBER INCLUDING A TIP ADAPTED TO INTERFIT AGAINST SAID STOP, A HANDLEATTACHED TO SAID PRY MEMBER, AND A FACE ON SAID PRY MEMBER ADAPTED TOCONTACT SAID CURL WHEN SAID PRY MEMBER IS PIVOTED ABOUT SAID TIPPOSITIONED AGAINST SAID STOP, WHEREBY BY FASTENING SAID BASE MEMBER ONTHE HINGE FLANGE AND PIVOTING SAID PRY MEMBER ABOUT SAID STOP A FORCEMAY BE EXERTED TO MOVE THE CURL AND BEND THE SUPPORTING FLANGE FORADJUSTING THE POSITION OF THE DOOR ON THE FRAME.